Tennyson
Tennyson was the leader of a religious cult called The Outsiders, and the main antagonist of two books. History Tennyson was the primary antagonist in The Kings of Clonmel and Halt's Peril and founder of a religious cult called the Outsiders, which is actually a plot made to steal gold and valuables from villagers. The Kings of Clonmel Tennyson attempted to take over the land of Hibernia, and he had already succeeded in becoming de facto ruler of five of the six kingdoms, with Clonmel, the biggest if the six, to follow. He used the Outsider method of causing "accidents" to happen in villages, blaming those catastrophes on Alseiass' mortal enemy Balsennis, then claiming that Alseiass could fix them up if the villagers donated gold valuables to his cause. Tennyson's evildoers had been wreaking havoc in the southern part of Clonmel for some time before Tennyson appeared on the scene, preaching about Alseiass and his power to stop the outlaws. He set up camp in Mountshannon, a village near the middle of the kingdom, where he preached about the power of Alseiass. He also began to undermine the king, who did not seem to be doing anything about the outlaws at all. After a group of outlaws tried to attack Mountshannon, Tennyson and some of his followers drove them off to show the power of Alesiass. He had also planned to have a rather large village destroyed to show what would happen if he was not there to save it, but Will,Halt and Horace warned the villagers in time for them to set up defenses. Horace, as the Sunrise Warrior, was made famous, and rumors of how he had saved the village began to float around. Tennyson had just recently hired three Genovesan assassins, extremely dangerous people well versed in the art of death by crossbow, dagger and poison. Upon hearing the news, Tennyson, in a rare display of anger, attacked the messenger and had him assassinated. Tennyson then moved into the city of Dun Kilty, where the royal palace was. He preached there each day and slowly convinced people to allow them to rule in the place of the king. However, rumors of the Sunrise Warrior had also drifted there, and people were unsure of whom to believe. While Tennyson was preaching, Halt came out and renounced him while disguised as King Ferris, his twin brother. He also arranged for Horace, the sunrise warrior, to fight Tennyson's twin retainers, Gerard and Killeen, in duels to the death. Tennyson was surprised and furious, because his spies had told him that the king would be a vacillating and weak figure. He attempted to intimidate the king, but Halt was not cowed. Tennyson watched the duels. In the first fight, Horace manages to defeat Gerard, and Tennyson realizes that Horace will not be easy to kill. He orders one of his Genovesans to poison Horace's drinking water before the next match, and the assassin complies. In the second match against Killeen, Horace is floored and is about to be killed when Will shoots an arrow into Killeen, killing him. Tennyson attempts to declare treachery, but Will beats him to it, and after the captured Genovesan shows obvious fright at drinking a glass of the supposedly poisoned water (Will had not gotten to the tent in time to save some of the water, so he had just gotten any glass he could find), the crowd begins to realize Tennyson's true colors. Will challenges the assassin to an archery match to discover who is telling the truth. Tennyson, knowing he has been defeated, escapes while everyone is watching the duel, leaving a double in his chair and ordering the remaining two assassins to kill the king. The onlookers, watching the duel, don't even notice him leaving until the king is discovered dead, with crossbow bolts embedded through the back of his chair and into his back. Halt's Peril Tennyson escapes with the two remaining Genovesans and a few still-loyal followers, eventually making their way to Port Cael and then to Picta. There, Halt, Horace, and Will follow him through the farmland of Picta, down through the drowned forest, and to the Caves near a village in Norgate Fief. While travelling, Tennyson realizes that the trio are following him. The Genosevans track them down and manage to get a poisoned crossbow bolt to scratch Halt. Tennyson later makes one of the Genosevans watch Halt, making sure that he dies. The Genosevan is captured and reveals the antidote to the poison. Will fetches Malcolm, the healer, and Halt is cured. Malcolm joins the trio while tracking down Tennyson. Along the way, he creates explosive mudballs that releae smoke and make a large noise when thrown. They find Tennyson in a cave. Halt dresses up as Ferris again and denounces Tennyson. A battle breaks out between Tennyson's most loyal followers, the White Robes, and the Rangers, Horace, and Malcolm. Will sees Tennyson sneaking up and out of the cave. In desperation, he throws the whole box of Malcolm's explosive mudballs at Tennyson. This caused not only a deafening noise and a huge plume of smoke, it made Tennyson step backwards, over the edge of the lip of the tunnel he was trying to run away into. He thus fell to his death. The vibrations from the explosions made the entire cave complex collapse. Description He wore a white robe and had graying hair. He was also said to be overweight. He was by no means a fighter, but was an amazing orator, able to control and sway a crowd his way with great skill. Tennyson often let others do the dirty work for him, not having the right "physique" to carry things such as that. He is shown to be ruthless in his dealings, not caring to spare even innocent lives for the sake of gold and jewels. Category:The Kings of Clonmel Characters Category:Halt's Peril Characters Category:Deceased Category:Males Category:Characters Category:Outsiders